Charles Wilkinson, PhD
Personal Statement
| My background is in the study of the regulation of neural and hormonal responses to stress in healthy individuals and the manner in which this regulation fails in normal aging and in psychiatric and medical conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, depression, PTSD, Parkinson’s disease, and metabolic disorders. My current research focuses on the physiological, behavioral, and cognitive consequences of chronic pituitary gland damage and hormonal abnormalities resulting from blast-related concussions in Veterans of deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. Symptoms of these hormonal abnormalities include sleep disorders, learning and memory deficits, sexual dysfunction, depression, irritability, fatigue, social isolation, and changes in body composition. Appropriate diagnosis of endocrine involvement in these symptoms can often result in successful treatment with hormone replacement therapy. |
Education
Neuroendocrinology, University of California, San Francisco, 1977-1979
Neuroendocrinology & Neuropharmacology, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York, 1980-1981
Ph.D., Physiological Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1969-1977
B.S., Psychology & Zoology, University of Michigan, 1962-1969
Scholarly Expertise
Teaching Philosophy
| My philosophy for teaching trainees the development of research skills and careers is to encourage a wide-ranging exploration of significant clinical issues and questions of interest. I then attempt to facilitate the relentless narrowing and sharpening of their research focus in order to identify detailed methodological approaches that can realistically answer specific questions. |
